A Biblical Case For Sola Fide

Sola Fide is latin for “Faith Alone”. It means that we are
saved from eternal damnation from our sins only by placing our faith in Jesus
Christ. There is nothing else besides faith in Christ that is either necessary
nor is able to save us. The doctrine of Sola Fide says that that good works
cannot gain our salvation, only by trusting in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice can we
be saved. But is Sola Fide biblical? What is the biblical evidence for this doctrine?

First, we have Ephesians 2:8-9 which says “For it is by
grace that you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can
boast.”Ephesians 2:8-9 is clear
cut; we are saved by God’s grace. God’s grace regenerated us or made us born
again (John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17)
when we placed our faith in Him. Once we placed our faith in Jesus, God’s grace
regenerated us, and God forgave us and adopted us as His children (John 1:12). Ephesians says that we weren’t saved
because we did any good works. The passage implies that if we could be saved by
good works, we’d have something to boast about. We could go on and on in the
afterlife about how much better we were than other saints that were there.
“Yeah, you did some nice things Bob. But you should take a look at my
spiritual resume. I dare say that I might have out good deeded every member of
the Red Cross and Salvation Army combined!” But since we’re not saved by how
many good deeds we do, we have nothing to boast about. I am no better for
attaining my salvation than any other saved person, and I’m certainly not
better than those who aren’t saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 is clear that our salvation
was granted to us upon placing our faith in Christ. In fact, even our faith would
be impossible without grace. In John 6:44
and John 6:65, Jesus says that no one can come to the Father unless the Father
draws them. According to John 6:44 and John 6:65, grace is needed in order for
us to be able to repent. Even faith would be impossible unless God gave us the
ability to choose to exercise it.

Then over in Romans 4, you have Paul saying “What then
shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For
if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not
before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was
counted to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wages are not
counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes
in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just
as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts
righteousness apart from works: ‘blessed are those whose lawless deeds are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord
will not count his sin’.” – Romans 4:1-8

Again, we have scripture telling us that good works do not
save, but only faith. Paul says that if Abraham were justified before God
because of the good works he performed, he would have something to boast about.
Paul then quotes Genesis 15:6 which tells us what justified Abraham; his faith.
“‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” It
was his belief in God that saved him, not any good works. Paul then gives a
very logical argument against works based salvation. He says that to the one
who works, his wages are not a gift, but are his due. If I work several hours
at a job every day, come pay day, my employer is giving me what is due me. I
worked hard for my money so my boss is both legally and morally obligated to
give me money. Therefore, if salvation were gained by works, God would be
obligated to let us into Heaven. Heaven would be our due. In other words, God
would be in our debt rather than us being in His debt. Paul then
quotes Psalm 32:1-2. It would seem then that if salvation were by works, the
shoe would be on the other foot. God would be in our debt, rather than
us being in His debt. Clearly there is something wrong with this
picture. We are in debt to God. That’s what Luke 8:41-45 says. That
was the whole point of Jesus’ death for the whole world (1 John 2:2); Jesus’
death paid the debt that we could not pay. Jesus gave His life as a ransom for
many (Luke )

Moreover, if it were possible to work your way into Heaven,
then that means that Christ died for nothing! For why would shed blood on
Jesus’ part be necessary if all we had to do in order to get to Heaven was to
simply let our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds? And yet in Christ’s prayer in
the Garden of Gethsemane,
Jesus asked the Father “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me, yet
not my will but your will be done.” Evidentially, this was the only way to
attain our salvation. Jesus clearly didn’t want to suffer on the cross (who in
their right mind would?) but He desired our salvation (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy
2:4) far more than He desired not to feel pain. His overwhelming love for us is
what drove Him to the cross (John 3:16,
Romans 5:8). And yet if good deeds could get us past the pearly gates, all of that
horrific suffering was unnecessary. Why die on the cross on my behalf if I can
get the job done myself?

Isaiah 64:6 says “All of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Our righteous
acts are like filthy rags to God. Have you ever tried to clean something with a
dirty rag? I have. All it does it move the dirt around. It doesn’t get anything
clean. In order to clean the thing that needs to be clean, you need a clean
rag. If the rag is filthy, all you’ll be doing is moving the dirt around. In
the same way, we’ve been made dirty by the stains of our sins. We can’t absolve
ourselves by righteous acts. We just move the inequity around.

Some who deny sola fide say that they don’t deny that
salvation is by faith, but that salvation comes from both faith and works. Both
faith and works attain salvation, not faith alone nor works alone. They’ll also
argue that the works we do attain salvation are done by God working through us.
The problem with this argument is that in Romans 11:6, Paul says “And if by
grace, then it no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”